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Returning clients frequently tell us about extraordinary, unexpected moments on their A&K holidays in Chile. Here's a hot contender for the top ten. One of our traveller's helicopter had landed on a Patagonian glacier to find the guides had chipped off ice and laid out a frozen selection board of cheese and ham, accompanied by a scotch on the natural rocks.

Such flourishes, of course, sit alongside enviable knowledge of the great outdoors. A returning guest recounted a dramatic hike in the Torres del Paine National Park where, after spotting several magnificent condors, they were buffeted by heavyweight mountain winds. The guide calmly demonstrated a sideways traversing technique, before leading them to a sheltered rocky overhang to rest while the gusts subside.

Two very different examples of how our guides can make an Abercrombie & Kent holiday to Chile both memorable and safe. They're part of a multi-centre South American team offering seamless travel across the continent. With 22 multi-lingual staff, our Santiago office can also arrange unique experiences from private polo classes to dinner at the home of famous chef, Emilio Peschiera, and surprise opera performances during private suppers.

Chile, you'll gather, offers a diverse holiday. Hugely diverse. There's sophisticated Santiago, a gateway to fine wineries, with its acclaimed Pre-Columbian Art Museum; and coastal Valparaiso where our guide responded to your request for 'real life' by swapping the private car for a tram, a funicular and long walk along tiny cobbled alleys teeming with locals.

Book-ended by the Andes and Pacific, it also has marvellous wilderness from Patagonia's widescreen scenic drama to the South's Lake District with its blue waters, white-tipped volcanoes and forests, and the North's Atacama Desert where salt flats, geysers and volcanic peaks come with the planet's starriest sky. And we haven't even mentioned subtropical Easter Island with its enigmatic stone moai and mysterious, compelling history.

A&K is waiting to show you the lot, but first, a final traveller's tale of seriously remote comfort. His guide, knowing the party were keen photographers, took them to a sublime spot where Atacama dunes were alchemised gold by the setting sun. He then iced the cake by whipping out a chequered tablecloth for a cheese and wine feast: a gourmet greeting for the stars.

Useful info

Best time to be there

As the climate varies hugely from north to south, different places are best at different times, although spring (September to December) is universally good. Atacama can be visited year-round, central Chile enjoys a Mediterranean climate with good weather throughout. Patagonia is best for hiking in Spring or Summer.

Fly to

LAN Chile daily via Madrid

flying time

16 hours

time difference

GMT -4 hours

Visas

Not required for UK passport holders

Health Requirements

Guest Testimonial

The Hotels you (Charlie Lockwood) selected were superb in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, what a pleasure it has been to stay in the Belmond Hotels, everyone was so helpful, the exception being the Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires equally superb.